Engage People with the Gospel

04/24/2023
Discipleship Articles

Engage People with the Gospel: You – and They – Will Be Glad You Did

 

We followers of Jesus want everyone to know our Savior! Though I’m always a little afraid of people’s reactions, I’ve learned to open my mouth to witness. I’m encouraged by this saying¹: 

 

“Success in witnessing is simply taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.”

 

It’s not our job to convince anyone, just to share the good news that changed us. We are Jesus’ ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20), commanded to go and preach the gospel (Mark 16:15)!

 

 

 

One habit I’ve developed is to give out everyperson.com or everystudent.com cards to people when I’m out and about. These identical websites are “a safe place to explore questions about life and about God,” with many interesting articles and opportunities to receive Christ.

 

 

A non-threatening start

 

Sharing a business card is a non-threatening way to start a conversation and give someone an opportunity to investigate God’s love on their own. As I’m checking out of a store, for example, I usually offer the cashier a card and say something like:

 

“I’d like to recommend this wonderful website to you. This information has meant so much to me.” 

 

Almost everyone has been happy to receive a card, and some have been stunned.

 

One of those was a young man stocking the shelves at Publix. I had asked him where to find something when I felt the Spirit’s nudge to talk with him about Jesus. Though it seemed to be more unusual timing than ever, I gave a brief explanation about the card and offered him one. He said, “I can’t believe you are talking to me about this. I have been thinking about this!”

 

‘Where do you go to church?’

 

Another day, as I was leaving the dentist’s, I thought of giving a card to a lady working there but had a hard time getting myself to do it. I left, but had to obey the Spirit’s prompting. So, I went back in and handed her a card with a short explanation. She looked at it and back at me and said, “I think I need this.”

 

I realized I could see her again, unlike most of the people I give cards to, so I went back a couple of weeks later. As soon as she saw me, she said: “Do you have any more cards? Where do you go to church?” 

The lady’s name was Andreina. She and her husband Daniel were believers, but out of the habit of going to church. They wanted to start again and began coming faithfully and happily to Harvest. Renewing her relationship with the Lord helped Andreina with the extreme sorrow she felt over a cousin’s death. The change was so obvious her co-workers asked her what happened. 

 

Later, Daniel said to my husband, Ed, and me that when I gave Andreina the card, “You changed her life. We were happy, but now we’re happier.” I’m thankful I obeyed the Lord!


 

Steps of faith

 

Another door-opener for witnessing is simply asking people, like waiters and waitresses, for example, how they are and if there is anything we could pray for them. Other wonderful things have happened when Ed and I have done that!

 

Witnessing is an area that requires steps of faith. If we don’t step out in faith to engage with people and share the gospel, they will miss a chance to spend eternity with Jesus, or, as in Andreina and Daniel’s case, to find the fellowship they need. It’s not surprising that our enemy wants to keep us from taking those steps in any way he can — sometimes by causing us to fear people’s reactions or to second-guess the Spirit’s promptings, or by distracting us.

 

I’ve seen — and experienced — that people who take steps of faith in any area often find a deep joy in their obedience to the Lord. This joy is part of the adventurous, abundant life Jesus came to give us (John 10:10). Our enemy certainly is glad when we miss out on that.

 

So, may I encourage you:

 

  • Pray and ask the Lord to use you. 
  • Confess any sin He brings to mind. Surrender control of your life to Him once again, and ask Him to fill you with His Spirit. He will bring people who need Jesus across your path. 
  • Take a step of faith and share the good news, even if it’s just by handing people a card with a few words of explanation.
  • Give a full explanation of the gospel when you can (more resources below). You may help someone come to know Jesus! 
  • Look out for joy! 

 

Resources

 

You can order EveryPerson and EveryStudent cards from Cru Store or print them yourself: EveryPerson.com - Share the Site with Others   EveryStudent.com - Share the Site with Others

 

Have You Made the Wonderful Discovery of the Spirit-Filled Life? It’s the Spirit’s power that works through us and wins people to Christ.

 

More help in learning how to witness: Share the Gospel  Your own testimony, told briefly, is incredibly helpful in sharing the good news: Preparing Your Personal Testimony

 

GodTools is an amazing app to have on your phone, including different gospel presentations and training in how to present them. Like EveryPerson.com and EveryStudent.com, it has many languages available.

 

Jesus Film Project offers a full-length film on the life of Christ, based entirely on the Gospel of Luke, in more than 2,000 languages. You can easily share a link to the film in someone’s heart language. This site also has many thought-provoking short films to help you start conversations about Jesus.

 

Taking scary but joyful steps of faith with you,

Judy Neibling


 

¹Dr. Bill Bright

 

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